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Tyler Larsen
Technology-rich History: Unit of Instruction
Grade Level: High school
Content Area: U.S. History
Title of Unit: World War II
Learning Goal:
Students will demonstrate knowledge of World War II, and the reasons the United
States entered the war. Students will be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills by
identifying the causes of the war, where the war was fought, and how the people fighting
thought.
Technology Standards
#1: Basic operations and concepts. Students will demonstrate understanding and
proficient use of various types of technology.
#2: Social, ethical and human issues. Students will use critical thinking to
analyze resources and understand how the common man experienced World War II.
#3: Technology productivity tools. Students will be using a variety of technology
when learning about World War II. They will also use technology to display their
understanding of the unit.
#4: Technology research tools. Students will use technology to conduct research
on the topic, while also evaluating resources.
Technologies Integrated:
“Home Video”, PowerPoint presentation, digital photo editing, internet research,
photo collage, Google Earth
Unit Outline:
 World War II
o Day 1 - Introduction to World War II: Have students observe war photos
through the computer.
 Students are divided into groups and each group must discuss
which photo is the “most important.” Students talk about the
images and what they convey, write them down and turn them in.
 PowerPoint presentation is given for remainder of class displaying
general information about the war.
o Day 2 – Google Earth:
 Demonstrate how to use Google Earth


Assign different groups to major battles. Then each group will
pinpoint them on Google Earth to prepare for final presentations.
They will research the battles they are assigned.
o Day 3 – Lesson on internet research.
 Each student will have to research and find a person that was in a
battle their group was assigned.
 Students will be assigned to look for relevant information
pertaining to the individual for why they were fighting, such as
personal letters, personal info about them, etc.
o Day 4 – “Home” Video
 Each student will be given a video camera.
 They will make a short 3-5 minute video about the person they
found the day before. Student will act out the part of the soldier.
o Day 5– Photo Collage
 Students are instructed on collage construction
 They will then find three to five photos from the battles and create
a collage for the final project.
o Day 6-8 – Students begin preparing project
 Students will compile their research and organize a presentation.
 The groups will create a PowerPoint presentation showing the
information they found about the battles, and the photos each
found.
o Day 9-10 – Student presentations.
 Each group will present what they found
 After the group presentation, the group will play the videos they
made where they acted the part of the person they found that were
in the battles.
This unit presents information about World War II in a way other than simply
lecturing about dates and events. It presents the content in different ways,
including battles and the locations, videos, internet research, photos, and
PowerPoint. Students will use the various types of media to think and hopefully
really get into the mindset of the people during the war; to see their person’s
viewpoint instead of the nations. Also, the students can use their critical thinking
skills and analyze other wars by looking at the battles the soldiers fought in and
how brutal they really were during WWII.
This unit offers students various ways of learning the material. It presents it
in a more traditional way with the PowerPoint lectures, as well as a more auditory
and visual way through the home video, photo collage, and Google Earth.
Students get to do their own research and work hands on with computers and
video cameras to create their presentations. The technology and the research the
students use will enhance the content because they will be more immersed then
just reading it out of a textbook or taking notes.